The puzzle of snail fishing An example of regulating common pool resources in Tamil Nadu, India. Photo: The seashore of Nambiar Nagar. Source: Anke Verheij, 2014 Bachelor thesis Human Geography and Urban Planning University of Amsterdam Supervisor Dr. M. Bavinck Anke Verheij (10288619) [email protected] August 2014 Contents List of abbreviations 4 Acknowledgements 5 Chapter 1: Introduction 6 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework 8 2.1 Common pool resources 8 2.2 Tragedy of the commons 8 2.3 Regulations of common pool resources and legal pluralism 9 Chapter 3: Research design 11 3.1 Research questions 11 3.2 Methodologies 12 3.2.1 Household surveys 12 3.2.2 Questionnaires 13 3.2.3 Open interviews with key informants 13 3.2.4 Observations 14 3.3 Research location and research population 14 3.4 Fieldwork challenges 17 Chapter 4 Context 19 4.1 Nagapattinam district 19 4.2 Nambiar Nagar 22 4.3 Samanthanpettai 25 4.2 Political organization 26 4.4 Fishing sectors 28 4.5 Sea snails 32 Chapter 5 Snail fishing 34 5.1 Fishing gear 34 5.1.1 The small bucket net 34 5.1.2 The kachaavalai 34 5.1.3 The trawling net 36 5.2 The uses of snails 37 5.2.1 Food 37 5.2.2 Cultural uses 38 5.2.3 Medical uses 42 2 Chapter 6: Regulation methods 44 6.1 Government controlled chank fishing 44 6.2 Local controlled small snail fishing 46 6.3 Prohibited Marine animals under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 47 6.4 Ringseine 47 Chapter 7: Knowledge and opinions on fishing regulations 49 7.1 Small-scale fishermen (artisanal sector) 49 7.2 Trawler fishermen (mechanised sector) 50 7.3 Panchayat 52 7.4 Government and NGO’s 54 7.5 Scientists 56 Chapter 8: Conclusion and discussion 57 8.1 Why snail fishing is regulated 57 8.1.1 Kachaavalai 57 8.1.2 Chank fishing 58 8.2 How snail fishing is regulated 58 8.2.1 Kachaavalai 58 8.2.2 Chank fishing 59 8.3 Discussion 59 Resources 61 Appendix 1: Household survey 65 Appendix 2: Questionnaire 66 Appendix 3: List of Mollusc under the Indian (Wildlife) Protection Act added with descriptions retrieved from Wye (1997). 67 3 List of abbreviations BEDROC - Building and Enabling Disaster Resilience of Coastal Communities CMFRI - Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute CPR – Common Pool Resources MFRA - Marine Fisheries Regulation Act MoA - Union Ministry of Agriculture MoEF - Union Ministry of Environment & Forests NGO – Non Governmental Organisation Currency The Indian currency is the Rupee. In June 2014, the exchange rate was approximately 82 Rs. = 1 Euro. 4 Acknowledgements This thesis is the result of my field research for the bachelor Human Geography and Urban Planning at the University of Amsterdam. I would like to take this opportunity to give my thanks to the people that helped and supported me during this thesis. First of all, I would like to give my thanks to Maarten Bavinck of the University of Amsterdam who has been a great help in supervising my research. He helped me preparing my research, giving me information and giving structure to my thesis by giving inspiring feedback throughout the whole project. I would also like to thank Jaap Rothuizen for his feedback and guidance during the first phase of the thesis project. I want to thank Leo de Klerk for bringing structure in the first phase of the thesis project. Also I want to thank Johny Stephen for his support and guidance during the first weeks in India. I would like to thank Mrs. Dhanalakshmi of the Anna University in Chennai for organising the two week course “Ecosystems – Governance and Services” at the Department for Ocean Management at the Anna University in Chennai. This course introduced us into the research subjects before we started our individual research. Next to that, I would like to give my greatest thanks to all the fishermen and their families that participated in this research and who were willing to share their stories with me. During the entire research period in Nambiar Nagar and Samanthanpettai I was amazed by the kindliness with which I was welcomed in the villages and all the houses. I also want to thank the key informants for participating in my research. Furthermore, I owe my gratitude to Elakkiya, who was not only of great help for translating, but also for helping me getting accustomed to Indian habits and traditions, for teaching me some Tamil words, and for the enthusiasm with which she showed me the plants in the area and what they are used for. I also want to thank Basil from BEDROC for giving us a warm welcome in Nagapattinam. Besides this, I want to thank Subramanian for his help in arranging practical things in Nagapattinam, introducing us to several people in Nambiar Nagar, and for taking me to Karikattukuppam. I would also like to give my thanks to my fellow students that stayed in Nagapattinam together with me; Fenna, Imme, Nicolien and Abel. The way we explored India together and how they supported me during the fieldwork is unforgettable. Besides, I would also like to thank my friends and family by giving critical feedback and supporting me during the entire period. I am very grateful for the opportunity to do my research in India because it deepened my research skills and it was a great experience in personal and in academic respect. 5 Chapter 1: Introduction In the world many marine ecosystems that humans depend on are under threat (Ostrom, 2009) due to, among others, overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction (UNEP, 2011) and climate change (World Fish Center, 2007) (Richardson and Poloczanska, 2008). According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) globally 15 of the 24 ecosystems that they have investigated are in a state of decline. Humans have changed these ecosystems more rapidly an extensively over the past 50 years than in any comparable period of time in human history (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). This is caused by a growth in world population and a growth in consumption of ecosystem services. The degradation of ecosystem services could grow worse in the future because of a likely three- to six fold increase in global GDP by 2050 which entails a growth in consumption of ecosystem services. In order to reverse the degradation of ecosystems and meet the increasing demands for their services, significant changes in policies, institutions and practices are necessary. However, these changes are currently not under way (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Ecosystems are defined as “any ecological system with defined boundaries. It includes all of the organism within those boundaries as well as the physical and chemical factors that influence those factors” (Sadava et al., 2011). Among the most productive ecosystems on the planet, oceans and coasts ensure the well-being for a growing world population, which is likely to rise to over nine billion people by 2050 (UNEP, 2011). Humans depend on ecosystems because ecosystems provide different services. “Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. These include provisioning services such as food and water; regulating services such as flood and disease control; cultural services such as spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits; and supporting services, such as nutrient cycling, that maintain the conditions for life on Earth.” (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2003). Ecosystem services research has become a more important research topic over the last decade, with the number of papers addressing ecosystem services rising exponentially (Fisher, 2009). Fisheries are provisioning services and fish is the main source of animal protein for a billion people worldwide (World Fish Center, 2007). About 200 million people and their households worldwide, most of them living in developing countries, live from fishing and aquaculture (World Fish Center, 2007). In India, marine fishery is an important sector, contributing to the food security of the country and providing direct employment to over 1.5 million people while others depend on the sector indirectly. At the moment, fisheries and 6 aquaculture contribute 1.07 percent to the national GDP and the average annual value of output between 2002 and 2007 was 31682500 million rupees (ICFS, 2014). In order to maintain these ecosystem services, natural resources are regulated in different ways. What the best way is to regulate fisheries in a small village in Tamil Nadu, India, is debated and different in every situation. As mentioned before, every factor in an ecosystem interacts with every other factor, either directly or indirectly. The sea snail is part of the marine ecosystem. Catching these snails could have a negative influence on the marine ecosystem. Snail fishing is regulated in different ways which will be described in this thesis. This study seeks to gain more insight in how and why snail fishing is regulated. It aims to contribute to existing knowledge on how marine ecosystems are regulated. By doing so, this study can give insight in a topic on which little scientific analyses have been done. Besides this, it is an example of common pool resource management. To find these answers, research has been done for four weeks in Nambiar Nagar and Samanthanpettai, two coastal villages in Tamil Nadu, for four weeks. During this time, fishermen were interviewed about snail fishing. Besides this fieldwork, a literature search has been done. For general information about the population of Nambiar Nagar and Samanthanpettai has been made use of results from other students doing research in this area. Finding answers to the questions how and why snail fishing is regulated is a complex puzzle, which will later be described, After having introduced the topic and the aim of the thesis in this chapter, chapter two of the thesis starts with a discussion of theories that are relevant for this research.